Firefighters are often exposed to very dangerous situations during the course of their work. Not only are they exposed to the immediate danger of the fire they are trying to put out, they are also exposed to other dangers such as falling objects, explosions, and hazardous debris, that are often present at emergency scenes. As such, it is not uncommon for these additional dangers to cause one or more firefighters to become incapacitated and/or rendered unconscious during the course of responding to an emergency situation.
When a firefighter is down, meaning that he is unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, it is desirable that his fellow firefighters can get him out of the dangerous situation so that he is not exposed to any further harm. As such, many protective garments for firefighters are equipped with drag and rescue devices that can be used by a rescuer to drag a downed firefighter to safety.
For example, one such drag and rescue device is the Yoc-Strap™ which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,584, issued to Yocco. This strap is fitted into the firefighter's coat and includes a drag loop that is accessible from the exterior of the coat. The drag loop can be grasped and pulled by a rescuer in order to cause a harness to secure around the wearer's arms and shoulders. As such, the harness supports the wearer's body as the rescuer drags the incapacitated firefighter to safety.
A deficiency with this device, however, is that it is located at the base of the coat's collar. Often, when a firefighter is incapacitated, it is difficult for a rescuer to access the base of the wearer's collar due to the firefighter's position, or due to the fact that the base of the collar is obstructed by the firefighter's breathing apparatus.
In light of the above, it can be seen that there is a need in the industry for a protective garment that alleviates, at least in part, the deficiencies of the prior art.